the warmth of a child
posted by back alley at 9:30 AM
8 comments
Sunday, February 12, 2012
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8 Comments:
A ray of warmth in a sea of darkness (cold)... very nice, Joe.
Do you have any where the child is looking directly at you? IMO, that would make it even 'warmer'.
Really nice lighting. The composition is what every parent would pay for, to capture youth and that moment in time.
**Dolph
I believe Warren has raised a fundamental approach to how one goes about capturing an image, do you make yourself part of the image or remain anonymous. The first image seems to create a sense that the photographer was not part of the scene, and IMO more effective. The second image with the child looking directly into the lens has more of a staged or created scene. In the hundreds of family scenes I have captured, the most effective for me and my family are more candid. Obviously, portrait work requires one to set the scene and manipulate all of the variables. Guess it all goes to what one is trying to achieve. However, I vote for the first image as evoking more emotion and creating a sense of story.
Dan
What a great discussion topic!
First of all, a big thanks to Joe for posting a couple of very compelling and excellent pictures.
Secondly, all opinions are valid and good, so I hope that some other people will speak up!
I will be posting more about this later, when I have time because this deserves more time to compose a post.
Keep it rolling!
--Warren
Sometimes it is a story, and sometimes it is the light and all the other elements that will not happen again and we need to capture the moment. I think that it is more difficult to put yourself into the picture, be part of the story. The challenge is composition of the feeling, and not just the elements of a good picture.
**Dolph
This is not a critique because Joe didn't ask for one. Both pictures are excellent in their own ways, and each of them invoke different reactions in me. Instead, this is just a documentation of my own reactions when first seeing them.
"the warmth of a child": this is from the viewpoint of an observer because the child was gazing outside the frame. Who or what was the child looking at? The background is so dark that the arm looks disconnected, which causes a bit of visual tension or mystery when combined with the outward gaze. The child's face is secondary to the other visual elements in the image, upper right is dominated by hair, lower left is dominated by the barely lit arm, and then the coldness of the dark.
"looking at me": The eyes gaze directly at me, in vivid and sharp focus. There is a direct connection between the photographer (and thus the viewer). The image is about the child and his relationship photographer. There is enough light on the arm and shoulder to know how the child is positioned in the picture. It's possible to have a candid with the subject looking directly at the camera. This does not give me the impression of being posed, the expression seems honest.
Both are excellent, and the omission of any description to go with them forces us to guess the intent of the photographer.
--Warren
just an fyi...i am always open to feedback on any image posted.
some background on the shots and this may be disappointing to some...his name is kayden, child of friends of mine. we were in a small restaurant for b'fast. i had just finished a session of tickling him and generally harrasing him. he looked up, was sitting in a spotlight of sunshine, i had the d90 with 40 lens on it and in the period of maybe 30 seconds i took about 6 or 8 shots of him. only one with him looking away and the rest with him looking at me.
he is a cute kid with these amazing blue eyes and is easy to photograph.
Guess that is my point, I prefer images that are less staged, not to say some great photographers, Avendon or Arbus comes to mind, do not produce incredible images that are fully staged. How many ways to create a story through an image, my guess is you cannot create the formula or recipe as to what works or does not.
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